Wizards Betrayer
by Sciencefictionsquirrel
Summary: In order to save everyone that she cares about, Nita makes a choice. A dark choice. Chapter 6 is up!
1. The Sickness

Wizard's Betrayer

Disclaimer: If I owned Young Wizards, Nita and Kit would've had a lot more romance going on between them. Unfortunately, I don't.

Summary: Nita, caught in the middle of a desperate situation, makes a choice. A dark choice. K/N romance.

Nita was sitting on the Moon, looking down at Earth. She was trying to figure out what to do. First her father, then Dairine, then almost all of the rest of her friends, Ronan, Roshaun(Who had returned from wherever he'd been for the past few months), Sker'ret, Filif, and numerous others had succumbed to a strange illness. Nita, working together with Kit, had tried everything, from basic flu-curing spells, all the way up to complex spells that took about three hours to set up. Nothing had worked. If anything, their attempts only made it worse. Now, Nita was on her own; Kit had succumbed to the same illness a few hours ago. At the rate the illness was progressing, Nita's estimates showed that the whole country could be infected within a matter of weeks. One glance at her watch, and Nita realized that she had only about fifteen more minutes of air left in the bubble that she'd brought with her. She stood up, then pulled one of the charms off of her charm bracelet. It was her teleportation wizardry. She stepped in it, then reappeared in front of her house.

She walked up to her room, then felt a shiver go down her spine. She took a breath, then opened the door to her room, then gasped. A boy, only about a year older than her, was sitting on her bed. "Hello, Nita. I believe that you may be wondering why I am here. The answer is this: you want to cure the illness, correct? I know how to cure it, but I don't know if it will work for you. It will only work if the person who finds it is desperate enough to make an incredible personal sacrifice. You must give up everything you have ever held dear, and then the sickness will vanish. Your choice. Do your friends live, or do they die?" the person asked, then reached into a pocket of otherspace and said,"If you decide that they live, put this on. You will be taken to somewhere where we can continue this conversation." as he removed an amulet from the pocket and handed it to Nita.

"You mean that I have to sacrifice everything?" Nita asked incredulously.

"It is the only way. But the sacrifice must be complete. You must sacrifice everything, down to your very feelings." the boy said, then began to procure a teleportation wizardry.

"Wait! Who are you?" Nita asked.

"You already know who I am." The boy said, then dropped the wizardry and vanished.

Nita looked at the amulet that was in her hand. It didn't seem very strange, save for the fact that it seemed to be made entirely out of figures in the Speech. The necklace part was made out of larger characters, but the jewel was made out of characters that were so small that she couldn't even read them. Little did she know that not knowing which characters they were could have saved her a lot of trouble.


	2. Taking a chance

It had been two days since Nita had been offered a chance to save everyone, and they were all doing even worse. Dairine, their father, and Kit were all pretty close to to death. She had asked them what she should do, but they had said to follow her heart.

Nita was in her room, lying on her bed. She was holding a picture of all her friends and family, gazing at each of them for about a minute, but she realized that she had been staring at Kit for about five, lost in memories. She was jolted out of her reverie when someone knocked on her door. "Come in," she said, "The door's unlocked." Roshaun, who seemed to be faring the best, and had been given a wizardry-enhanced wheelchair to move around in, entered.

"Nita, you have to stop lying around in your room. You have the chance to save everyone who has been afflicted with the disease. Take the chance." Roshaun said, then looked at Nita and dropped a huge bomb. "Kit is within an hour of death."

"No! Not Kit!" Nita cried. She buried her head in her pillow, then raised it, wiped away the tears, looked up at Roshaun, and said, "Look forward to getting better." as she reached for the amulet that she had been given, which she had put in her dresser.

"Very well. I will tell the others that you have taken the chance to save them." Roshaun said, putting his hand on Nita's shoulder and letting it linger there for just a second too long before pulling it away and letting Nita put the amulet on. There was a blinding flash of light, and, when it cleared, Nita was gone. Roshaun smiled for a second, but it was a dark smile, sinister and dangerous. Then he said, in a voice that Nita, had she still been there, would have recognized in a second, "Foolish girl. Couldn't she tell that it was me?" before vanishing.

Nita shuddered when she rematerialized. She was in a huge, dark cavern lit by a single large fire in the center. A voice said, "So, you decided to take the opportunity. Well, you made a mistake doing so."

At these words, a form stepped out of the darkness. It was a form that was familiar to Nita and Kit; a form she had hoped never to see again.

"Hello, Nita Callahan. Are you prepared to sacrifice everything and become my apprentice?" The Lone Power said, smirking.


	3. Discovery and metamorphosis

"You bastard!" Nita yelled. "You god-damn BASTARD! You did this, didn't you?! You wanted me to become so desperate to save my friends that I would do anything, even sacrifice who I am!"

"Nita, Nita, Nita, when will you learn that this is the culmination of many years of planning? There have been numerous prophecies about you, about you and your little group of friends defeating me in all of those scenarios. I knew that I would be defeated numerous times before being able to accomplish this. I had to wait until you were close enough to those around you to risk anything to save them before unleashing that virus." the Lone One said.

"I won't do it! I won't help you win!" Nita said, but the Lone Power just smiled.

"Ah, but you have no choice. That amulet was two wizardries: The chain was a teleportation wizardry, but the amulet was a contract, and you putting it one effectively placed your name in the contract. You putting that necklace on bound you to serving me. Even now, your wizardry is fading, but that was necessary. You will be restrained here until everything has faded: your wizardry, your emotions, your personality. When everything is gone, I will begin to fill in the empty areas. You will retain your ability to use wizardry, but it will be a part of my own power that fills you, your personality will be recreated as a dark version. You will have no emotions except for anger, hatred, and unfailing loyalty to me. You will have become my apprentice, and I have already removed the illness from your friends."

"You bastard. You god-damn bastard. Kit won't stand for this! He'll come looking for me! He won't stop until he's found me and undone your damage!" Nita yelled, but the Lone One just smirked again.

"It's hopeless. He won't be able to find you, and, even if he does, it's too late to stop the changes." He said, then walked closer and said, "You really are beautiful. Too bad you're so stupid.", then vanished.

Meanwhile, back at Nita's house, where everyone was staying, Kit, weak and pale to the point of near-transluscent skin, was beginning to wonder where his girlfriend was.

"Hey, Roshaun, you've got mobility. Could you find out where Nita is?" He asked, and Roshaun turned to look at him.

"The last I saw of her, she had entered her room." he replied.

"Oh, I see. Well, could you get her for me?" Kit asked.

"I will see if she wants to come down." Roshaun said, then wheeled off on the enhanced wheelchair.

A few seconds later, Roshaun came rocketing down the stairs. "Nita is gone, and so is the amulet she said she found. I think she decided to go for it."

"Should've figured she'd do that." Kit muttered, then suddenly felt a surge of energy. It wasn't much, but it felt good to have some of his old strength back. "She should be getting back here any time now." he said, then looked at the clock and started counting. By the time he reached 360 seconds, she still wasn't back, and Kit started getting worried. He eventually said, "That's it. I'm going to trace her signal and find out where she went." He had been feeling his energy flowing back into him since he started counting, and he could do a simple tracer wizardry. He was finished setting it up about four minutes later, and then he activated it. He watched the center of the tracer's wizardry circle, watching for an image of Nita and wherever she was to appear, but he couldn't see anything besides the wizardry equivalent of static. Suddenly, for a split second, he had a clear image of Nita, chains of wizardry holding her in place. He deativated the wiazardry after removing a series of coordinates from it, then prepared a teleportation wizardry and inserted the coordinates. He looked at the others, who were doing just as well as he was, and said, "Nita's life could be at stake! Let's get moving! Anyone in this room with even an ounce of wizardry power in them had better be moving! Mr. Callahan, you should stay here."

At his words, every wizard in the room began to put their names into the teleportation wizardry, then they were off. They found themselves in a large cavern lit by a single large fire in the center. They had landed right beside a large pole that Nita was tied to. She looked over and said, "Kit! I knew you'd come!"

Kit looked into Nita's eyes, then recoiled slightly. Something was different. She seemed less vibrant, less enthusiastic, less . . . wizard.

"Nita, what happened?"

"The Lone Power. He's the one who started the sickness, and that amulet was a contract that stated that I would be his apprentice in exchange for the removal of the illness. However, I'm going through a series of changes, and it would be best if none of you saw it.."

Even as she was saying this, the others could see a sort of cocoon/chrysalis of speech characters beginning to form around Nita.She said, "Get out of here!", and Kit and the others felt themselves thrown backwards into the teleportation wizardry and found themselves back at Nita's house.

"She didn't want us to watch whatever's happening to her because she wants to protect us from whatever's happening." Roshaun said.

Dairine stood up and said, "I don't care. That's my sister, and we are going to find some way to save her. I'm going to get some Mobiles ready to head over there and then I am going to talk to Nita and get her out of the Lone One's clutches."

With those words, she prepared a teleportation wizardry and copied the coordinates of Nita's location to use later. She finished the wizardry, then stepped in and teleported.

She found herself on a planet with a surface as smooth as glass and said, "Mommy's here, Gigo!" No sooner had she said this than a swarm of Mobiles came running from all directions. Dairine carefully unpacked Spot and let him walk around. "Gigo, I'm going to need to make some new Mobiles. I need some warriors. Well, more like soldiers. My sister's life may depend on getting them done quickly."

"Very well." Gigo said, then turned around and headed towards a group of Mobiles.

"Spot!" Dairine called, and her faithful little wizarding computer walked over. "Okay, Spot. Interface with the Motherboard."

Meanwhile, back at the cavern, Nita was completely encased in the Chrysalis. She had been feeling incredible agony since it had gotten halfway finished, and she knew that it could still get worse. She could feel the Speech characters solidifying into a strong, durable material. She felt the thick, gooey liquid that was filling the Chrysalis inch its way up her body. It was already at her waist, and it seemed to be sinking through her clothes and into her skin. She shuddered at the thought of it sinking into the child that she had learned was growing inside her, thanks to a wizardry pregnacy test, shortly before the illness struck, and she renewed her efforts to break free as the thick goo oozed over her chest and reached neck level. She could already feel herself seeming to become a liquid, and a bit of knowledge surfaced: when caterpillars metamorphosed into butterflies inside of chrysalises, they actually became a liquid and then reformed. She figured that the same process was going to occur with her, so she began thinking to Kit, hoping that he could hear her thoughts. She began to get nervous as the clear goo that had been filling the chrysalis began to flow into her mouth. However, she discovered that she could actually breathe, but that was no use, as she felt the rest of her body begin to liquify. As she began to lose consciousness because of the extent of the liquifaction, she heard a voice say, "It won't be long now, my faithful apprentice."

Nita managed to gasp, "What . . . about . . . my . . . child?"

The Lone One said, "Oh, that is interesting. It will be unharmed."

Nita, hearing this, managed to say, "It'd better be." before slipping into unconsciousness.


	4. Failed Rescue

A/N: Credit goes to Faermage for beta'ing and providing the section detailing Nita's emergence from the Chrysalis.

As Dairine looked at the 100 new mobiles and the five different designs, from the sleek, streamlined infiltration team, to the black/special ops, with their bulky hacking equipment, to the heavily armored, weapon-loaded heavy duty assault team, to the incredibly small extraction team, to the so-called 'clean-up crew', with the high-explosives to blast the place to pieces, she said, "Men, we have a dangerous mission ahead of us. We are going to bust into the holding area where Nita is, break her out, and trash the place while we're at it. The plan is thus: I will go in through a teleportation wizardry with the infiltration team following me, then the black/special ops team will follow to steal as much information as possible, the heavy-duty assault team will follow and cover the black/special ops team, the extraction team will use the distraction of combat to smuggle Nita to freedom, and then the clean-up crew goes in and removes the evidence. Some of you may die, but you will die for a cause. Do you understand?"

"Sir, yes, sir!" the Mobiles shouted in unison. Dairine smiled. These were definitely her creations, all right.

Meanwhile, Spot was unhooking himself from the Motherboard after losing ten games of chess in a row to her. Each game had lasted for less than six minutes, and Spot was getting frustrated. He walked over to Dairine, and she patted him on the head before saying, "Spot, I need you to stay here and look after the Mobiles if I don't come back."

Spot looked at her for a second, giving the impression of half-formed protest, then went off to play a game of digital scrabble against the Motherboard. Dairine sighed, then dropped the teleportation wizardry and walked through it.

She arrived in the chamber where Nita had been, but something was different about it. The stone walls were turning transparent, and she could see boiling, rolling waves of red-yellow plasma outside, separated from her by two feet of rock, slowly getting thinner. She realized where they were about a second later. They were inside a star that generated some sort of wizardry 'static', making it hard to get to. Suddenly, she realized that the Lone Power was standing in front of her. "Dairine, if you want to live, you will tell me how you got here earlier, and how you got here now. You and your friends should still be too weak, even together and in full health, to break through the interference field. Who gave you the energy boost? By the way, I know you've come to rescue Nita, but she isn't here anymore. She is located in the center of a star with a stone chamber in it similar to the one we are in that is located _inside_ the event horizon of a black hole created by the simultaneous collapse of thousands of stars similar to this one. It is impenetrable, but you have thirteen days to attempt to rescue Nita."

Dairine couldn't understand at first why the Lone One would tell her this, but it suddenly dawned on her. "You're smart, but I'm smarter. You're telling me this so that we'll try to find her, then you're going to try to steal our power booster, and we'll be destroyed because we'll have to die to replace the lost energy. Nita's not really there, is she?"

"What are you, a conspiracy theorist? What I have told you is true, and my only plot is to have my apprentice kill you when she awakens. Now, be gone. This chamber is ancient, and now it is collapsing because the star it is in has acquired too much mass for it to support from interstellar objects being pulled into it. It has already swallowed nine of its ten planets, sixteen of its twenty-five moons, three asteroid belts, and three comets with close perihelions. It swallowed a fourth no more than ten minutes before you came here, and now the weight and mass pressing down on this chamber is causing it to collapse. I will survive the collapse, and then I shall move to the next most ancient hiding place, the chamber of the star Nita is in." the Lone One said, then Dairine felt herself hurled back through the teleportation wizardry, and she blacked out. When she woke up, the mobiles were crowded around her, all very worried about their 'mother'. Gigo asked if she was okay, and she reassured them all that she was okay before getting up, procuring a teleportation wizardry, packing up Spot, and heading home.

Roshaun, Ronan, Filif, Sker'ret, and Kit were waiting for her, and she said, "I know where Nita is. Only problem is, it's extremely hard to get to, and we won't have enough energy to get there even if we were at full strength. Apparently, we were given a powerboost by some unknown source when we went there the first time and when I went there the second time. We also only have thirteen days to figure out _where_ a star with a stone chamber in the center of it located in a black hole created by the simultaneous collapse of thousands of stars emitting a form of radiation that acts as static interference for wizardry is."

"How do you know this, Dairine?" Roshaun asked, raising an eyebrow in a perfect imitation of Spock.

"I know it because the Lone Power told me shortly before his previous location for Nita collapsed from too much mass in the star for the stone chamber to support." Dairine said.

"Are you _sure_ he wasn't lying to benefit his own ends?" Kit asked.

"Look, we should at least _try_ to save her! She's my sister, Kit's boyfriend, and Ronan, Roshaun, Filif, and Sker'ret's friend, and I intend to find her, and I bet you do, too." Dairine said, then pulled out Spot and entered in a few search parameters. About 300 possible destinations popped up, and Dairine said, "Okay, there are six of us, so that means that we can each investigate 50 destinations."

A few hours later, they all left to investigate their first destinations.

Twelve days later, they had investigated all but one site, which was probably the one they wanted, because the energy consumption was HUGE. Roshaun and Kit had gone to ask Tom and Carl for help, Sker'ret had gone to try to convince the Stationmaster to open a temporary worldgate to their destination in case Tom and Carl's added energy wasn't enough, Filif had gone outside, and Dairine was playing a game of Scrabble against Spot.

Two hours and three games later, Roshaun and Kit returned. "Hey, Dair, Tom and Carl have agreed to help us." Kit said just before Sker'ret entered the house. "My Honored Ancestor has refused to open a worldgate temporarily." he said. "That's good, because Tom and Carl should be enough." Kit said.

Three hours later, Tom, Carl, Roshaun, Filif, Sker'ret, Kit, and Dairine were ready to try the teleportation wizardry. The supplies included three car batteries, four lithium batteries, and an electromagnet strong enough to lift a car two feet in the air. They laid down the wizardry and cross-checked each other's names in the Speech. Satisfied that they were accurate, they got ready, then, just before they activated the wizardry, Kit said, "Moment of truth, guys." and everyone else nodded before agreeing, "Moment of truth."

When they activated the wizardry, they braced themselves for a failure because of insufficient energy, but, just as Kit felt the energy levels start to decline, they were boosted five or six times. He almost _felt_ the interference ease up as the wizardry-enhanced electromagnet acted as a drill to burrow through most of the interference. When they arrived, they saw the pulsating, writhing, grey-purple chrysalis begin splitting open, and Nita emerged.

Once-brown hair fell in cascading black waves to her waist, her dark eyes cold and cruel. They looked as ancient as the stars, yet still young. Clothes were replaced by black armor: dark, skin-tight pants made of a supple leather-like plastic substance; a bat-winged bodice displayed her midriff. A peeled white wand glowed with black, perverted fire, light turned to darkness as it burned with the same dark light as the pullulus once had. It's beauty, like her own, was cold, and a shiver went through Dairine as her eyes met those of what had once been her sister.


	5. Rising Power, Falling Star

Wizard's Betrayer, Chapter 5: Rising Power, Falling Star

"Nita," Dairine gasped, taking an involuntary step backwards. "What did He do to you?"

Nita smiled, almost smirking. "He made me better. He showed me what true power was. He made me into something I could never be with normal wizardry. He made me his greatest Avatar. He gave me strength to do his will and serve his purpose. However, unlike the pawn he could have just as easily made me, I can choose what I do, so long as it benefits his plans." she said.

"Nita, He tricked you! He made you desperate enough to take that offer, then he started changing you to fit His needs!" Kit said, and Nita slowly turned her head back to face him.

"He didn't trick me. You did. You've been using me, Kit, using me to reach your own full potential while pushing me down, keeping me from reaching mine. But that's all changed now. I've reach my potential, and soon I will be able to accomplish something not even the Powers Themselves can do: Resurrect my mother.

"Now, before I leave, I have one question, Kit: How could you just _use_ me like a stepping stone to power? I loved you!" Nita said, then said a single word in the speech and they were thrown backward, slamming into a wall with enough force to knock the breath out of them.

"Oh, that's it." Dairine said, then said a quick spell in the speech, which caused the rock around them to lash out and smash into Nita, who was hurled backward. In this same instant, Roshaun yelled another spell in the speech, which caused the stone to liquefy and then flow over Nita up to above her waist before solidifying. Nita smirked, then said, "Is that really the best you've got, starboy?" before the stone glowed red, cracked, and then flew outwards in all directions before a blast of energy slammed into Roshaun, sending him flying into a wall with enough force to fracture some of the rock.

"You'll pay for that!" Dairine yelled, lashing outward at Nita with pure magic. As she attacked repeatedly, forcing Nita to try to block several dozen strikes at a time, a glow started to surround her, and, just by looking at her, you could tell that her power levels were increasing almost back to what they had originally been.The others, save for Roshaun, soon joined in, battering Nita with so much magic that you could tell the air itself was getting hyper-energized from just the fallout.

As magic blasts launched back and forth, smashing into stone, sending bits of it flying, hitting flesh only occasionally, the temperature was rising steadily as the energy in the air began corroding the walls of the chamber. Nita ducked behind a stone pillar and then readied a powerful energy-whip spell. She stuck just enough of her body out from cover to use the whip, and slashed right across Kit's chest, resulting in a massive gash which spurted huge amounts of blood.

"Kit! Hang in there!" Dairine yelled, lashing out with a furious blast that almost vaporized Nita's arm, searing it down to the bone.

"Nice shot. Too bad it wasn't enough." Nita said, and held up her arm. The others were stunned to see first veins and arteries, then muscle, and, finally, skin, grow over the bone, regenerating the arm completely

"What the hell?" Ronan said incredulously, just as the whip slashed across his arm and part of his leg, sending him flying backwards.

"Never drop your guard, Ronan." Nita said casually, then lashed out again, this time at Filif, who managed to block the strike, deflecting it back at Nita, slicing into her shoulder

One by one, the others got hit and went down for the count; however, none of them were hit as severely as Kit. Finally, it was back to Nita versus Dairine. Nita readied a powerful blast, then lashed out with it . . . but not at Dairine. She launched it into the wall, blasting a huge hole in it and causing plasma to spill out, glowing red, yellow, and orange. The air began to ignite, turning into plasma because the star's plasma had imparted enough energy to begin energizing the air itself.

Dairine couldn't believe it. The plasma was heating up the already baking room, and she knew that she'd have to end this fight soon, or they'd all cook to death . . . if they didn't asphyxiate first. She launched a ball of plasma at Nita, who ducked and retaliated. Dairine managed to duck behind a large rock before wiping some sweat and blood off her brow. The heat was beginning to cause her skin to blister. She managed to take a reasonable breath of the rapidly depleting oxygen in the air before grabbing a large amount of the plasma with a spell in the Speech and lashed out at Nita, searing her entire body. Nita smiled before the skin regenerated. She then used some more plasma to lash outward, delivering it as a razor sharp blade which Dairine managed to block . . . barely. A decent part of it got through her defense, slicing open several small gashes on her face, but inflicting several major cuts on the arm that had supported the shield and her torso. She fell to the ground, screaming in agony.

At this, Roshaun lost it. He let out a massive roar before launching a massive amount of plasma at Nita._ "You will NOT hurt her!"_ he yelled in the Speech.

Nita smirked. "Not here, I won't." she said in the speech. "You, however, are not protected by a statement in the speech." she said, catching the blast of plasma in her hand and hurling it back at him. Just moments before it would have vaporized him, it split, going around an invisible shield that he had created.

"Dairine, are you okay?" Roshaun asked, and Dairine nodded. "Use my power." she said, and Roshaun felt a massive amount of energy surge into his body. Coupled with his own power, he had more than enough power to do what he needed to do.

"You can try to kill us, but we'll drag you to Timeheart with us!" Roshaun yelled, then said a spell in the Speech. He rock around them began to melt, and then the entire mass of the star slammed inward. Roshaun closed his eyes, waiting for death to come . . .

And opened them to see that Nita had projected a massive shield around the whole group. Dairine smiled weakly. "You still care, don't you? You would've let us die if you didn't." she said

"I only saved you so that I could enjoy the pleasure of killing you myself later." Nita said, then vanished in a cloud of dark magic.Her voice, however, lingered for another few seconds. "You have enough power to get back to Earth, I trust? Also, Kit, I have something to thank you for. I wouldn't have more than half the power I do if I didn't have another mind inside me thanks to you."

Dairine stared at Kit for a second. "Did Nita just say she's pregnant with your kid?"

Everyone else also looked at him quizzically. Kit looked away. "I'll explain when we get back to earth."

"If and when my dad finds out, you are so screwed, Kit." Dairine said, laying out a teleportation wizardry. Apparently, Nita had healed all their wounds in the same instant that she had shielded them from the solar collapse that Roshaun had initiated.

A few minutes later, they were back on Earth. "Now, Kit, I believe you have some explaining to do." Dairine said, flopping down on a chair by where Kit was. "I want you to explain what happened to lead up to the circumstances that resulted in Nita saying what she said."

Kit sighed. It was going to be a long night.


	6. Confrontation

Wizard's Betrayer, Chapter 6: Confrontation

Dairine stood up. Kit had just explained the circumstances that led up to his and Nita's 'intimate encounter.' She had found the story mildly interesting, save for one detail, but she still had other problems to think about.

"Okay, before we move onto other matters, I just want to clear this up. You've been sleeping with my sister for months, starting just after the freakin' Pullulus incident?!" Dairine practically screamed this last part.

"Yes." Kit replied. Dairine nodded. "I'll pray to the Powers That Be to let my dad show mercy on you." she said, then continued, "Now, let's focus on the situation at hand. Nita's been taken over by the Lone One, and she's insanely powerful, partly because Kit got her pregnant, partly because He turned her into something like an Avatar with an independent mind. When she blasted me that last time, I could, for a second, actually _feel_ her power. She could've slaughtered us if she wanted to, but, for some reason, she didn't.

"We need to get her back so we can try to reverse what's happened, but we were barely able to hold our own against her, even when it was all of us against her."

Kit spoke up. "Even if we could capture her, we don't know if we could do anything. I managed to sense her mind when she hit me, and it's . . . it's . . . _different,_ somehow. Like she was brainwashed and then mentally 'reprogrammed' to serve him. He altered her memories, her thoughts, almost the very fabric of her being. We underestimated his ability to change her. We'd probably need the Powers Themselves to be able to revert her to normal."

"Or an Abdal and quite a few other wizards." Dairine said, grinning.

* * *

A few minutes later, they were on the moon with S'ree, a large amount of other aquatic wizards, almost the whole population of Mobiles, Ronan, Darryl, Tom, Carl, and most of the planet's total wizard population. However, missing from their ranks were Roshaun, Fillif, and Sker'ret, who had each gone to their respective worlds to ask for help from the wizards of their planets. Dairine herself had just sent a universal plea for help through the manual.

"Okay, we need to figure something out. Nita poses a huge threat to the survival of the universe. I don't doubt that she could wipe the floor with everyone here, even if we were fighting her at the same time. Also, we don't know what she's capable of." Dairine said.

"If you don't think we can take her on, then why should we try?" one of the younger wizards asked, and Dairine glared. "Because if we don't, then we might as well hand entropy the universe on a silver platter. Because she's my sister. Because she's _one of us._" she snapped back.

"Okay, okay, sorry I asked." he said, sticking his hands in his pockets and looking down.

"Now, the best strategy is probably to hit her with our strongest wizardries simultaneously. When Roshaun, Fillif, and Sker'ret get back with additional help, we need to start searching for Nita. We need to split into groups. Each group searches a few thousand cubic light-years at a time and contacts the others when they find something. As soon as you hear anything from one of the groups, you are to report there immediately. If you are the team that finds her, do yourselves a favor and don't be a hero; wait for everyone else to get there before engaging her in battle." Dairine continued. Just then, Roshaun appeared, followed by a large group of other wizards. "Every wizard on Wellakh has pledged their services to this effort." he said by way of explanation.

Just then, Sker'ret appeared. "There are several hundred more wizards on their way, many of which are of different species who received the message you sent and are using The Crossings as a meeting place before heading here. My Honored Ancestor is setting up a worldgate to transport them directly here."

Dairine nodded at both of them. "Good. Let's hope even more come." she said.

A few seconds later, Filif appeared with a very small group of other wizards of his species. "I gathered what I could." he said.

"Okay. You did your best." Dairine said. "Now we wait."

A few hours later, the number of wizards had grown to what Dairine guessed had to be way into the thousands. Finally, when the incoming flow of wizards had slowed to a trickle, she said, "Okay, it's time to divide everyone into groups!" Over the next half-hour or so, they divided into groups. After deciding that they would search one galaxy at a time, they divided the galaxy into sections and sent each team off to check out a section.

However, after only a few hours of searching, Dairine got what could be interpreted as the best news they'd gotten all day: Nita had been sighted. The only problem: she was tearing Wellakh apart. After signaling the other groups through the manuals, they headed to Wellakh. After they started arriving, Nita stopped wreaking havoc and simply waited for the rest of the thousands of wizards allied against her to gather on the destroyed side of Wellakh.

Finally, when all the groups arrived, Nita said, "Good. Now I can take out a decent chunk of the galaxy's wizards in a single go." before unleashing a massive blast of energy. Acting immediately, Filif and several dozen of the younger wizards activated a shield wizardry. The shield absorbed most of the blast, but shuddered under the impact. Furiously, Nita unleashed several more blasts of energy at the shield, which Filif compensated for by converting the shield wizardry to absorb the energy blasts and use the energy to strengthen itself.

It was time for Dairine's strategy to go into play. She signaled the other wizards by launching an energy blast of her own into the air. As one, they unleashed extremely powerful energy blasts at Nita. Nita casually stood there and let the blasts hit her. The impact zones on her body glowed with energy before dissipating.

"You really think that you can do anything to me? You can't hurt me. It would take the Powers Themselves to cause any serious harm to me, and even then They wouldn't be able to do much." Nita scoffed.

Finally, Dairine realized that they were just weakening themselves with each successive barrage. She knew they wouldn't benefit from just exhausting themselves, so she gave the order to use the wizardry that had been most reluctant to use: a wizardry Filif had developed that would channel all the energy they could use without dying into a single blast of energy that should at least incapacitate Nita, if it didn't kill her.

The shield went down, the energy was condensed into a bolt of energy, and the whole group of wizards added to it before launching the massive blast towards Nita.

As the blast traveled through the air, Nita uttered a few words in the Speech, then raised a hand. The blast of energy flowed into her hand. She pointed her hand towards the sun, then said, "Thanks. Now I can make sure you die."

A massive, continuous beam of energy, accompanied by a long spell in the Speech, launched from her hand towards Wellakh's sun. When the blast ended, she smiled. "I hope you like heat, because this whole planet is going to be blasted by a solar flare big enough to turn this planet into a molten mass of lifeless slag in a few hours. Don't even think about teleporting away; you do, and you'll simply bounce back here. I've set up a dampening field that prevents wizardries from working until after this miserable rock gets destroyed." she said, then laid down a teleportation wizardry and prepared to leave. Some of the wizards continued blasting her with energy, but Nita simply absorbed those blasts as well before vanishing.

In the seconds before Nita vanished, Dairine heard a voice in her head. It was Nita's. _There's one way to escape. You have three hours, fifteen minutes, and twenty-seven seconds from the time I finish saying this to figure out what it is and act on it. I know you're wondering why I'm willing to help you survive. The facts are simple: I find fighting you amusing, despite the fact that my Master wants you dead and for me to kill you. I actively saved you during our last confrontation, but that was a one-time thing. He made it against the rules for Me to go out of My way to save you. You'll have to guess on your own. This will help. Use it if there's no other way._

Nita threw a small charm to Dairine. When the message ended, she blinked. "Everyone, get over here!" she called. When Kit, Ronan, Roshaun, Filif, Sker'ret, S'ree, Tom, and Carl went over to her, she said, "Nita left us a way out. We've got about three hours and fourteen minutes or so to figure it out and act on it. I'll try to figure out the spell Nita gave me. She said it would help. Tom, Carl, you're with me."

Over the next two hours, Roshaun, Filif, Ronan, Sker'ret, S'ree and all the other particularly skilled Wizards were trying to figure out the way out that Nita had mentioned to Dairine. All the while, Dairine, Tom, and Carl were trying to figure out what the spell Nita had given to Dairine would do.

Finally, Roshaun came up with the solution. "A shield." he said simply. "We encase Wellakh in a shield to absorb the blast."

"Yeah, but where are we going to get enough power to encase a planet in a shield strong enough to withstand a solar flare smashing right into it?" Dairine asked, and Tom spoke up.

"We have thousands of wizards here. That should be more than enough power to make it work."

"Yes, and, even if it isn't, it appears that the wizardry Nita gave you is an energy tap right into her own power. She seems determined to make sure she can keep fighting you." Carl said.

"Sounds good. Let's do it. But we don't activate the shield until the solar flare is almost upon us to save energy. Filif, get some people together and start designing that shield." Dairine said, and everyone agreed.

* * *

About an hour later, Roshaun reported that Thahit was about to unleash the solar flare that Nita had initiated. They immediately began laying down the wizardry. It used a system of interconnected "generator" wizardries, areas where the energy for the shield would be released, to cover the planet. The placement of the "generators" would determine where the shield would be strongest, which was on the side that would be hit, though the shield would cover the whole planet just to be on the safe side. The test revealed that they would need more energy, so Dairine laid out the wizardry Nita had given her and worked it into the shield.

Just as she finished, Roshaun called out, "It's starting! We've got about ten minutes!"

Dairine nodded. "Okay, everyone! Get ready!"

The flare was visible in the sky five minutes later, growing larger by the second. To keep people from acting prematurely, Dairine yelled, "Hold it until we've got under a minute before impact!"

As the seconds ticked down, Dairine waited anxiously. Finally, Roshaun yelled, "One minute!" Acting in unison, they began working the wizardry. The shield grew in strength as the flare got more and more powerful, but Dairine knew she would have to trigger the tap into Nita's power.

With the very heart of the flare mere seconds away, Dairine activated the energy tap. Suddenly, she felt the strength of the shield drop dramatically. "What the--?!" Dairine yelled as the full force of the flare smashed into the shield, which was still decreasing in strength rapidly. She felt the flare sear through the shield and impact the planet, slagging about a quarter of the still-inhabitable side and three-quarters of the already-destroyed side.

* * *

A few hours later, the damage reports and death toll had come in. The blast had killed at least a thousand wizards and 500-750 Wellakhit, due to the fact that they'd evacuated that part of Wellakh to minimize loss of life if the shield couldn't stop the flare. At this point, what Dairine was beginning to think of as the War Council, consisting of herself, Kit, Roshaun, Filif, Sker'ret, S'ree, Tom, and Carl, was convening to go over what had happened during the flare. They were gathered around a table in the Wellakhit palace.

"Nita tricked us." Dairine said. It was a simple statement, yet it was full of conviction and hatred. "She gave us that energy tap wizardry that she said would help us survive because, and these are her exact words, 'I find fighting you amusing.' Instead, the tap goes and pulls energy from the shield to feed the solar flare. Her treachery has gone too far. I hate to say it, but, we need to create a wizardry that will kill Nita. She's shown what she can do, but she's also holding back. It won't be long before the Lone One orders her to straight-up kill us."

Tom spoke. "I agree. As much as it pains me to say it, Nita is a traitor to wizards, to the Powers, to existence and life itself. We have no choice but to kill her to prevent her from destroying the multiverse."

Roshaun spoke up. "Just before we freed the Hesper, the Lone One suppressed all wizardry in the area. Nita did something very similar just now, when she prevented us from using wizardries which would reach beyond the planet to keep us from teleporting away from Wellakh. If we were to create a wizardry to duplicate that effect, we could lure Nita into a trap, create a small bubble to suppress all wizardry for, say, just a few feet in any direction, and then we could kill her using a single, lethal spell that we would exempt from the dampening field while she cannot use her powers."

"Okay. Filif, get a few others, and start working on that. An ideal location would probably be a planet in an uninhabited solar system. That way, we can draw the energy we need directly from the star, shortening its lifespan without endangering any potential species in the future."

"I will see if anyone knows a suitable location." Roshaun said.

"Good. We've got a traitor to kill." Dairine said.


End file.
